Tim Allen thought the Toy Story franchise was finished after the third movie.
Returning to Toy Story
The 72-year-old actor has played Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story film franchise since 1995, but Allen never imagined reprising the role again after 2010’s Toy Story 3.
Returning to play Buzz Lightyear for Toy Story 5, Tim Allen told Radio Times, “I thought (Toy Story 3 ) was the end of it.”
Tim cherished reuniting with Tom Hanks, who voices Sheriff Woody, for the latest movie. He also admitted to being a huge fan of the Toy Story 5 script.
He said, “I love script and I love storytelling, and I sometimes ask questions. I said (to the filmmakers) that I had such a hard time saying goodbye to this man in (Toy Story 4) that you’ve got to have a moment where they connect and Buzz sees that he’s back. That moment is simple and short, but it happens.”
Tim Allen explained that he and Tom, 69, both feel deeply connected to the film franchise and their characters, having recorded the first Toy Story movie more than 30 years ago.
“Same Anxiety”
However, Tom Hanks previously confessed that he’s “experienced the same anxiety” on all five Toy Story movies.
The veteran actor explained that he’s had a similar experience every time, even though the first film premiered in the mid-90s.
Tom told Entertainment Weekly, “Over the course of five movies, we’ve gone back to the same confines, and it’s the same geometry.”
“The mic is here, the stand is there, the team is there. They might have some props or what have you, but if you could have taken me at any point in all of the recording of all of these, I experienced the same anxiety, pressure, physical demands of it. So there actually is a familiar sameness.”
Woody Evolving
Despite this, Tom admits that Woody has evolved during the course of the five films.
The Hollywood star shared, “He has been played with to excess.”
“You put a rubber hat on top of a rubber head again and again and again and again, something’s gonna chafe. So, yeah, he does have … let’s say a worn area on the back of his head. He is not shaped plastic. He is made of stuffing and cloth, and that stuff settles over time.”